Exalted: Heroes of the Modern Age
by Loneshark
Summary: Exalted. The Solars return to a modern world where they are still hunted, and mysterious forces move to destroy or manipulate them to their own ends. This is one Circle's story to bring light back into a fallen world unlike any they could have imagined.


Exalted: Heroes of the Modern Age

Part One: Kael and Ince

Steel on steel flashed with sparks of golden lightning in her eyes. She felt blood burning over her shoulder and gritted her teeth as she pushed the pain away. The force of the blow had driven her across the chamber but she stayed on her feet.

A mocking laugh filled the chamber and she looked up at its source with a feeling of righteous defiance growing in her breast. The man standing before her was decked in black metal armor trimmed with bone spikes and vertebrae. His face was made of cracked, blackened flesh. He grinned at her in an expression of infinite arrogance.

"What's the matter, child? Is your infamous resilience finally wearing thin?"

She stood straight and rolled her shoulders back. Her body was sheathed in golden armor that reflected the halo of light surrounding her. She sucked in a deep breath.

"I will never yield to scum like you," she said. "You're a monster. I'll drive you back into the darkness no matter what it costs."

He smiled an impossibly huge sword at her. It was pitch-black and looked more like a pane of pure Oblivion. "Come then, Lawgiver. Let's see your precious light save you."

She screamed and felt her power fill her fist. She leapt into the air and came down like a bolt of lightning from Heaven.

The sound of the alarm mixed with the clash of steel and rudely woke her from the dream. She sat upright and looked around. It was just a dream. It hadn't been real. She was still in her bedroom with its posters of celebrities and her pink elephant plush-toys and…

If it was a dream then why was her heart still pounding?

She heard her sister calling her name from the front room. "Ince? Are you up yet?" She poked her head through the doorway and frowned at her. "Ince, what are you still doing in bed? You're going to be late!"

"I…" She tried to find the words. She sighed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Sorry."

"Just turn the alarm off and hurry up. You're going to be late." She left the room.

"You always say that," she muttered as she slapped the alarm into silence and hopped out of bed. She took a moment to study herself in the mirror: she was a round-faced girl of thirteen going on fourteen. Her long blond hair was tied back in a braid and she had large, ice blue eyes. Her skin was slightly darker than that of most blonds, owing to their mother's Hungarian heritage. She was more athletic than most girls her age, but frowned at the obvious fact that her body stubbornly refused to mature at the rate that her mind was.

She quickly dressed for the school day and hopped through the apartment to the kitchenette where her older sister had already set out breakfast. She sat down and buttered some toast while her sister busied herself with preparing their sack lunches.

Her sister was almost an exact copy of her aged five years, although she was considerably more full-bodied and had lighter skin, making her the stereotypical blond, Germanic Amazon. She kept her hair cut short instead of letting it grow out.

Ince bit her lip while she spread jam over her toast. "Hey, Kael?"

"Yes?" She barely heard her sister's voice over the plan of the day's events going through her head. The morning news was playing on the radio and provided a background of white noise.

"And in other news," the D.J. said, "Another gang lord was found this morning hanging from a flag pole with the signature mark of the so-called "Gold Ring" vigilante painted on his chest. This is the third such killing of an organized crime member in as many weeks. Rumors about the vigilante are being adamantly denied by civic authorities and the chief of police has publicly denounced the actions…"

Ince asked, "How old were you when your breasts started to grow?"

She froze as a chill of terror ran up her spine. "Um…" She reached for the radio above the sink and turned up the volume. Maybe the morning news would drown her voice out. "What was that?"

The radio continued, "And the country's own favorite werewolf, the White Wolf, was reported being sighted again in the Black Forest. This report was accompanied with an account of silver lights, which have been associated with the White Wolf since it first appeared last year…"

She frowned. "I said how old were you when your boobs started to grow?"

She closed her eyes. Damn it, why was she asking about this today? "Ince, can we talk about this later?"

"What 'later' are you talking about? I'm just asking a simple question. Why can't you answer it?"

"Because I'd really rather not right now and we don't have the time to sit down and—."

"But I'm almost fourteen and I'm still flat as a board! And yours are nearly the size of my head so I figured you'd know when mine might…"

"Ince!" She slammed her palms on the counter. "Not. Right. Now."

She pouted and munched on her toast. "Fine."

She breathed a sigh of relief. Then she muttered, "And they're not that big."

"Al thinks so."

"Ince, for the last time…" She sighed and grunted. "Damn it. I'm not talking about this right now either."

She giggled and kicked her feet with the satisfaction of embarrassing her sister. "Okay."

"Look, we've got a long day. We've got to be at the studio right after you're out of school to meet your producer."

"Oh, yeah. That." She propped up her cheek with her elbow against the table. "I don't like that guy."

She turned around and leaned back against the counter. "Ince, please. Mr. Harrison has done nothing but work hard to get you this deal. And this could be it for you, don't you get that?" She sat down beside her. "Hey, I thought you loved to sing?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I do. I just…"

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know." She squirmed. "I just get… weird around the guy. I can't explain it."

She smiled. "Hey, it's okay to be nervous. I'm sure all the big rock stars were nervous as Hell before they started recording their first album. I'll be right there the whole time and make sure everything's okay, just like always." She gently cupped her sister's chin and turned her face towards her. "Okay?"

She smiled and nodded. "Okay."

"Good!" She glanced down at her watch. "Shit! We have to go!" She grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of her seat. She barely remembered to grab their lunches and backpacks before they flew out the door.

They hurried to the metro station and hopped on the train seconds before the doors closed. They squeezed their way through the morning crowd and a pair of old men gave up their seats to them for a smile and an innocent giggle.

Ince shoved a pair of earphones into her head and turned on her sister's old Walkman while they waited for the trip to end. She frowned at the bulky thing as it sat on her hip. They were so poor they couldn't even afford a damned I-pod. How was she supposed to become a famous singer if they couldn't even afford that? She had no idea how Kael was paying for the studio time.

She looked up at her sister. She always had a distracted look on her face whenever she saw her now, and ever since their parents' funeral.

She pulled her earphones out. "Kael, why is it you never want to talk about Al?"

"Hmm?" She looked at her curiously.

"You heard me. What is it? You don't like him?"

She frowned and crossed her arms under her breasts. "I'm not going to talk about Al with you, Ince."

"Why not? I thought he was a friend." She grinned.

Her sister sighed. She'd fallen for this trap so many times. "He is. But he's just a friend! Nothing more! Got it?"

She giggled. "Right, just a friend. But what about that time you two…"

"Nothing! Happened!" She yelled and everyone on the train turned and stared at her. Her face flushed bright red and she leaned back and glared at her little sister who giggled and kicked her legs innocently.

"I swear one of these days I'm going to kick your little butt," she muttered through clenched teeth.

She stuffed her earphones back in and giggled. After a moment she sang loudly and off key, "Making out in the hot tub! Drunk off your ass!"

Everyone stared at them. Kael buried her face in her hands.

"I'm going to smother you in your sleep," she mumbled. Her sister giggled.

They got off at their stop and as they made their way through the crowd another chill ran up Kael's spine. She paused and held on tightly to Ince's wrist as she looked around. Someone was definitely watching them.

Ince frowned at her. "Kael? Hey, what's wrong?" She tugged her arm. "Hey!"

She shook her head. "Sorry. It's nothing. Come on." She let her sister lead her out of the station and continued to glance around out of the corner of her eye, but saw no one.

On a nearby bench three people sat in pinstriped suits and pretended to read the morning newspapers in their hands. They lowered their papers as the girls left the station. Each of them was striking in appearance and wore shades over their eyes the same color as their suits. The first man wore a suit of deep crimson and his spiked hair was a shocking orange. The second was a woman in an immaculate white suit with platinum blond hair. The last was a thin man in a black suit with deep blue hair.

The blond put her palm against the ground and after a moment nodded. They stood as one and walked out of the station.

Kael rushed through the crowded sidewalks to Ince's school and pulled her along after her.

"Ow! Kael? Hey, Kael! Could you stop? You're going to pull off my arm!"

She slowed down. "Sorry. I'm…"

"Going psycho." She slipped her hand out of her sister's grip. She rubbed her wrist. "Okay, I see my friends. I'm gonna go." She started to walk away.

"Wait! Ince!" Kael knelt down and held her sister's shoulders. She looked into her eyes with a worried face. "Um, be careful today, okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "Geez, Kael. I'll be fine. I swear."

Her sister wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight. "I love you."

She blushed. "I love you too. Now let me go? I can't breathe."

She stood and laughed. "All right. Go on. I'll be here after school."

"If you're not knocking boots with Al, you mean." She laughed and ran across the street to her friends gathered outside the school.

Kael shivered and wrapped her jacket tighter around her. She took one last look around before telling herself that she was just being paranoid and left.

Ince rushed up to her gathering of friends. Erik, Jonah, Kylie and Anna were already standing by the trunk of their favorite tree. They waved to her as she approached them.

"Hey, Ince!" Anna jumped up and hugged her. "You're not late for once!"

She laughed. "Hey, I can't be late every day."

"How's the famous singer doing this morning?" Jonah grinned.

She blushed. "Stop it. I'm not famous yet. I haven't even started recording my album."

"But you got one," Kylie retorted. "I'm so jealous."

"It's just luck," she said. "It could have happened to anyone."

"No," Erik said. "It's not luck. It's fate. You got to sing at some radio station publicity stunt. Of course a producer was going to hear you. You're the best singer in the country."

"Stop it." She playfully shoved him. "Where's Thomas?"

They looked to one another and shrugged in turn. "Probably missed his bus," Anna said.

Then Kylie looked up and her eyes widened. "Then again maybe not." She pointed and the others turned around.

Thomas was a slight, gangly boy that the group of friends had taken in when his family moved to Germany from England. As he approached now they could see that his glasses were bent, his chin was scrapped open and he had a black eye. His eyes were red and he hung his head down as he came up to them.

"Um, hey, guys."

They crowded around him. "Good god! What happened to you?"

"It's nothing," he said. He tried to turn his face away. "I… I tripped and fell when I was getting off the bus. That's all."

Ince marched up and studied his wounds. "Uh huh. And the ground just happened to be in the shape of a big fist, right?"

The others cleared room for her as she stared into Thomas's face. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't look away from her. "Ince, please, don't…"

"It was Axel, wasn't it?"

"Come on, Ince. I don't need you to take care of me. I… I can take care of myself." He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

She shook her head. "Come on, Thomas. Look at yourself! Someone's got to teach that jerk a lesson now or one day he'll go too far. It's not right." She felt a fire rising in her chest. "It's not just." She turned around and started marching off.

The friends looked at each other and shared the exact same expression. "Uh oh." They immediately ran after her.

"Ince, wait!" Jonah walked ahead of her. "Just wait a second. What if he's got his friends with him? You can't just…"

"Yes I can," she said. "He's a creep and he's not going to get away with this."

"A man has to fight his own battles," Erik said. "Just think about what you're doing, Ince. The consequences…"

"To hell with that!"

Kylie insisted, "Ince, girls aren't supposed to fight!"

Anna clapped her hand over her friend's mouth. "No, not that one. It'll just make her angrier."

Thomas shook his head. "Too late."

They followed her as she marched across the street and down the block to a nearby alleyway tucked between two buildings. Halfway down was a gathering of five teenagers each one roughly fifteen to seventeen. Their clothes were leathers and cast-offs and they sported an array of piercing, spiked collars and bracelets, tattoos and shorn heads with locks of hair either dyed and spiked or left to dangle off their heads like spiders' legs. They stopped their laughing and conversation as one of them spotted the approaching younger teens.

Ince stopped and looked at them with righteous fury burning in her eyes. She recognized Axel among them. He was the tallest and broadest, a boy of only seventeen but looked much older. His body was all muscle and he wore only leather. His head was completely shaven and tattooed with a twisting serpent around his crown.

"Get over here," Ince demanded.

The boys looked at each other and laughed. Axel stepped forward. "What seems to be the problem, little miss?" He looked down at her.

She looked up but didn't feel a tremor of fear. "You beat up Thomas, didn't you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to tell which one's Thomas. You're all so little and ugly." He glanced back at his friends and they laughed. He turned to her. "Except maybe you. You're a little flat-chested, but I don't mind."

He reached his hand out to caress her face and she slapped it away. He and his gang laughed.

"Oh! Tough little girl, huh? Tell you what, why don't you ditch the junior club here and come with my friends and me. I'm sure we can show you a good time. Maybe we can even show you how to be a woman." He grinned and grabbed his crotch.

Erik sneered. "You sick son of a—!"

Ince held up her hand and cut him off.

Axel decided that he wasn't going to stand for that. "What was that you little shit stain? Come on, say that again."

"Leave him alone," Ince said. The edge in her voice caught his attention. "You leave my friends alone or I'll break your arms. If you touch me I swear I'll…"

He chuckled. "Or what?" He reached out to touch her and she slapped his hand away. He tried it again and she slapped it away harder. He did it again, faster. Again she slapped him wrist. She didn't see his other hand coming on the other side until it connected and smacked her across the face. The sound echoed through the alley.

His friends laughed. Ince's friends gasped. Anna shook her head. "Ince, let's go, now. Please."

She didn't hear her. She didn't hear Axel's friends. She didn't even feel the sting of his strike as much as she felt the poison of its embarrassment. She looked up into his laughing face and a creeping sensation of familiarity came over her. She'd heard a mocking laugh like that before. The fire of her anger, previously only a spark, was now growing into a great inferno.

"Do that again," she said. "I dare you."

He sneered. "Have it your way." He raised his fist and threw it at her face.

It happened so quickly that those gathered hardly saw what happened. She spun around and his fist flew past her shoulder without touching her. She grabbed his arm, tucked it under her shoulder and slammed her fist back into his jaw. She shoved her elbow into his gut and he gasped as the breath was knocked from his body. She brought her heel up into his groin and his groan of pain turned into a squeak. Finally she took his arm in both hands as he fell to the ground and slammed it over her knee like breaking a stick. The bone cracked and as she let go he rolled away from her trying to scream in pain as his arm hung uselessly.

She rose and glared at his friends, who had gone silent and stared at her with awe and terror. She could feel her heart pounding at a million beats a minute. She opened her mouth and screamed at them with righteous fury.

They jumped and scattered. Only one was loyal enough to grab Axel and help him before making his own escape down to the other end of the alley.

She watched them run and sucked in deep, shaking breathes. Her friends were frozen and speechless. Finally Thomas found the will to move and approached her. He gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ince?"

She whirled around and he cringed. She looked into her friends' fearful eyes and lowered her fists. "Oh, god. I'm… I'm sorry." She swallowed. "I'm so sorry."

Anna and Kylie swallowed and hugged her. "It's okay."

She started to cry on their shoulders.

They walked her back to the school and barely made it to class on time. No one said anything about it. Their first teacher that day was Miss Lee, a young, raven-haired American woman who in Ince's opinion looked nothing like a teacher. She was slim and sexy and gazed at the class with large dark eyes. All of the boys drooled over her and all of the girls hated and secretly envied her. Ince didn't mind her too much, since she usually left her alone.

Ince sat in her seat and pretended to listen while she doodled in her notebook and tried to calm her nerves. She saw a couple notes pass around and heard whispers as people glanced in her direction. They were already finding out. She wondered who told them. Or maybe someone saw the fight.

It wasn't a fight, a quiet voice in the back of her head said. It was justice. He was a bully, a coward and wanted to hurt you. He wanted to violate you. He deserved what he got.

She leaned forward on her desk and told the little voice to shut up. You're not real, she said. You're just left over anger from what happened to my parents. That's all.

She could feel her eyes drooping. The more she tried to fight it the stronger the feeling became to give in and let sleep take her. She was exhausted. Just let it come over you, the voice said. Let the dream come and I will show you the world that was. In a time before time, there was an age undreamed of by modern man. There was an age of sorrows…

Her fists struck the dark man's blade and her golden gauntlets scraped against dark steel. It moaned as she hammered away with blow after blow until she finally broke through his defenses and her fists connected with his face.

The blow threw him across the room and she pressed her attack. "I won't let you win," she cried out. "You're an enemy of all life, of all Creation! And I will not submit to you!" She spun around and brought her heel up.

He caught her leg in his grasp and twisted her around. He threw her across the room and she slammed into a pillar. The force rocked her body and as she fell to the ground in a rain of stone debris and dust she coughed. Blood stained her lips and spat up onto the floor.

The man laughed. "Come now, Sun Child. You are alone here. Your god has abandoned you. You are crushed. Give in to the final embrace. Experience the cold, absolute power of death incarnate!" His body was surrounded by a dark, shifting aura and a blood red wound opened up in his forehead and blood poured down his face.

She lifted her head and again stood tall. She breathed in deep. "No matter what you say, I will not yield."

He laughed and swung his weapon. A crescent arc of darkness flew through the air straight at her. It took the shape of a great, howling ghoul with outstretched claws and struck her. For a moment she was swallowed by the darkness. The man threw his head back and howled in triumph.

The darkness cleared and revealed that she still stood and was unharmed.

The man balked. "What? How is this possible?"

Her golden aura burned around her and her forehead blazed with the mark of a noonday sun. She raised her head high and through the open ceiling she saw a shaft of sunlight break through dark clouds and shine down on her. She narrowed her gaze on the dark man.

"You cannot hope to understand the source of my power. I judge you, traitor, in the name of the Unconquered Sun!"

She darted forward and her aura began to take shape around her. The man cried out. She could see in his eyes that for the first time he knew true fear. At the moment her gauntleted fist struck her aura was shaped into a fierce ram. He lifted his blade to defend himself and her fist shattered it and slammed into his armor. It cracked beneath her knuckles and her power surged. He punched straight through the man's body and her arm emerged out the other side covered in gore.

He coughed and spat blood over her shoulder. "How?"

"I am Ince, Chosen of the Unconquered Sun. You had no hope for victory."

She pulled her fist out and he slumped to the ground still whispering her name on his lips. "Ince… Ince…"

"Ince? Ince!" A hand slammed down on her desk and she bolted upright to the sound of her classmates' laughter. She looked up into the face of her teacher. Except it wasn't her teacher. She looked… different. She was more intimidating, and wore a black suit with plates of gold-trimmed armor. A gold ring burned on her forehead.

"What's the matter?"

She leapt up with a shout and closed her eyes. Everyone stopped and stared at her. She opened her eyes and Miss Lee looked as normal as she always had: a severe but fashionable suit and skirt and her gold-rimmed spectacles. She studied Ince quizzically through those spectacles now, her dark eyes concentrating on the girl's face.

"Ince? Are you all right?"

She took a deep breath. "Um, yes, Miss Lee. I'm sorry. I had a nightmare, and…"

"Well you wouldn't have them if you tried not to fall asleep in class. Let's work on that, okay?"

She nodded. "Yes ma'am." She sat back down and wiped the sweat from her brow.

Miss Lee nodded. "Good." She turned around and continued her lesson.

Ince felt a strange, salty taste in her mouth. She wiped her lip with her fingers and pulled them back. They were dappled with blood.

At lunch she gathered with her friends outside the school with her sack lunch. Their conversation fell to a murmur as she walked up and plopped down beside them. Visions of the dream were still playing through her head. It was several moments before she realized they were staring at her.

She looked up. "What?"

They flinched. "Um, nothing," Jonah said.

She frowned and looked down. "Sorry."

"Are you all right, Ince?" Anna put a hand on her shoulder.

"I've been having a bad day," she said.

"No kidding," Kylie said. "First you snap on Axel and break his arm, and then that… episode in class. Are you sure you're not having a nervous breakdown?"

Thomas frowned at her. "Kylie!"

"What? I'm just asking!"

"She's right," Erik said. "Face it, Ince. You haven't been the same since your parents were murdered."

She glared at him. "And that's my fault?"

"No. But… perhaps you should talk to someone. I mean a professional. It's not normal for thirteen year old girls to go around breaking seventeen year old boys' arms."

Kylie looked worried. "You don't think Axel will go to the police and report her, do you?"

Jonah laughed. "And admit that a girl half his size broke his arm? No way."

Thomas cleared his throat. "Um, Ince. I never thanked you for that. You… didn't have to. But you stood up for me. Thanks."

She blushed and looked down. "It was nothing. My sister's a black belt. She's taught me everything I know." At least that's what I used to believe, she thought.

Erik tilted his head. "What is it?'

"Can you guys keep a secret?" She looked to each of them and they nodded. "I mean this. You can't tell anybody. But have you guys ever had a dream that couldn't be real but felt so solid that you were sure it had to be more than just a dream? Like maybe a memory?"

"Oh, sure," Anna said. "Everyone has realistic dreams."

"I don't mean that. I mean…" She sighed and twisted her hands in front of her with frustration. "I had this dream last night, and again in class, and I…"

Erik said, "They felt real, sure, but the mind is a powerful thing, Ince. Everyone can have dreams where they feel, and smell, and they're sure that they're real. But it's not. It's only a dream. That's all it ever is." He sipped his soda.

A quiet feeling of contemplation settled over the group until Anna said, "Geez, Erik. You don't talk like a fourteen year old guy."

He smiled. "Maybe it's just a trick. Maybe I'm actually an old soul trapped in a young man's body and you all just think I'm a fourteen year old boy?"

Jonah laughed. "Yeah, and maybe Ince's really the 'Gold Ring' vigilante."

They laughed, except for Erik, who continued to smile serenely, and Ince, who stared at him as though she'd never really seen her friend before now.

Kael spent her morning working out at the gym. She was the first one there and it afforded her a good hour before the early morning health nuts arrived. She used the time to clear her head of the noise and empty her heart of all the emotions it had been wrapped up in for the past several months.

Her first class started early, and she was permitted to teach it alone. The sifu wouldn't arrive until after lunch. He claimed it was because he spent the morning alone in meditation. She knew that it was because the old man never woke up before noon.

Today was basic sword training. She guided the class while they each wielded a wooden baton and went through the basic motions and then called up one of the senior students to spar with her.

They bowed to each other and as they assumed their ready stances the room of the gym melted away. They were standing in a long open corridor lined with stone columns. It was sunrise and autumn leaves drifted through the air between her and her opponent.

The warrior before her lifted his sword, an impossibly large weapon that glinted green in the sunlight. He gave a fierce battle cry and charged. She smiled and effortlessly spun as he passed by her and swung. To a mortal it would have been a masterful attack, but compared to her battle-honed skills it was clumsy and foolish.

She turned as he realized his mistake and quickly tried to cover his back by throwing his sword over his shoulder. Their blades struck. Sparks of golden light jumped between them. He growled and spun. She tapped the tip of her golden sword against his and smiled, waiting.

He came at her with a flurry of fierce blows that she met with calm grace. She twirled and parried, counter-attacked, and slapped the flat of her blade against his head. He stumbled barely brought his blade back up in time to parry the blow aimed for his neck.

She pulled her sword away and stepped back again to wait for him to regain his balance. He growled at his humiliation and charged again. She threw her sword up into the air and back-flipped away from his attacks. Her foot shot out and knocked his sword from his hand. It flew into a column and buried itself in the stone.

She lunged forward, grabbed the collar of his green chain shirt and threw him to the ground. Her sword flipped through the air and she caught the hilt in her hand. The blade pointed down and rested just inches from her opponent's throat.

Then it was over. She was back in the gym, sitting on her student's chest with her baton at his throat. He stared up at her with wide, frightened eyes. She looked around the room and the other students' mouths gaped.

She swallowed and stood, then helped her student back on his feet and dismissed class. She sat down and leaned back against the wall as they filed out. Only a handful looked back at her. She didn't care to notice as she held her head in her hands.

What the hell was that? Everything felt so… real. But it hadn't been, at least not as she knew it. They were in a fight, yes, but it was just a spar. It wasn't real. There were no columns. She hadn't been toying with some fictional opponent. They weren't using real swords!

She looked at her hand and remembered the cool feel of the metal in her grip. But it had felt so real. She remembered the rush of combat, the feeling of satisfaction at teaching her opponent a lesson in challenging the… The what?

She looked up when she heard a knock on the door. Al stood in the doorway. He was a handsome guy about her age with unruly dark hair and large green eyes and an eternal stupid grin on his face. He wore a weathered old denim jacket and a grease-stained white shirt, and ragged jeans.

"Hey," he said. "What's up?"

She groaned as she sat up. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to be at the shop before noon."

He shrugged. "Took a sick day."

"But you're not sick."

"I'm never sick." He laughed. "Come on, I'll buy lunch."

"Is it lunch time already?" She looked at her watch. "All right. Let me change." She headed for the locker room.

He leaned his head back as he watched her walk away. "Need any help?"

She flipped him the bird.

The locker room was empty and afforded her some privacy as she slipped out of her training gi and laid out her day clothes. She let the silence fill her brain so she could pretend she didn't hear Al as he snuck in and crept up behind her. She pretended it didn't matter when he wrapped his arms around her and held her arms in place.

But she couldn't hold back a moan as he began to kiss her neck and run his hands up her body. She bit her lip as lust filled her. She spun around in his arms and shoved him back against the wall. He laughed and she leapt on him and kissed his face and neck.

"You haven't told anyone, right?" She gasped as he kissed her shoulder and she fumbled with his belt.

"I've already told my mother about you." He lifted her and carried her over to the bench.

They made love quickly and passionately as they gasped each other's names and clawed at their clothing. She found release as he filled her; release from her life, her mind and the world.

When they finished they walked to a little café down the street from the gym and sat down outside.

"Hey." Al tried to get her attention after they sat in silence for several minutes. "Kael, what's the matter?"

"Hmm?" She looked up. "Oh. Sorry, Al. It's… nothing. Really."

"Right." He nodded. "You damn tomboy."

She frowned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You have to be so tough on the outside. You can't let anyone see that you might be vulnerable."

She leaned back in her chair and stuffed her hands into her pockets. A creeping sensation went up her spine and out of the corner of her eye she saw a woman in white talking on a cell phone across the street. Had she seen that woman before?

She turned her attention back to Al. "I have to be strong for Ince. I'm not just taking care of myself, Al. If something ever happened to her…"

"I know." He reached over and gently gripped her arm. "I understand, Kael. I really do." He sat back. "I lost my parents too, remember?"

"You were too young to remember them. Ince and I had our parents and they were just… taken." She paled as she saw his expression change to a frown. "Oh, Al, I… I didn't mean it like that. Really."

He waved his hand. "No, you're right. I don't remember them." His smirk returned and he chuckled. "It's just been me and the machines for as long as I can remember."

"Hey, it's a gift. There isn't a machine you can't fix." In the back of her mind she was trying to pretend that she wasn't rubbing her foot up against his leg. "But you can't fix everything."

"And you can't take on the whole world by yourself. Honestly, Kael, why is it you don't want anyone to know about us?"

She sighed. "Can we not talk about this? I've got a lot to think about." Visions of today's sparring session flashed through her mind.

"You've always got a lot to think about. And don't hide behind Ince. That's not fair to her."

She sat up. "Hey! I have to take care of her, goddammit! Who are you to—?"

"I thought I was your best friend! Who the hell do you think I am?" They stared at each other. "I want to know what I am to you, Kael."

She shook her head and stood. "I… I can't. I can't deal with this right now." She started to walk back to the gym.

He threw some money down on the table and followed her. "Kael! Wait! Damn it, Kael!" He had to run to catch up to her. "Damned long legged Amazon… Kael! I just want an answer. That's all."

She stopped and turned to him. "I don't have an answer for you, Al! Okay? I don't have one now. I've got too much going on in my life to think about it. I just…" She sighed and shook her head. "Why the hell are you so strange? You're the only guy I've been with to ever actually ask me that."

His stupid smile returned. "So is that what we are? Together?"

She blushed and tried to look for a way out but didn't see one. "Al, I…"

He took her hands in his. "Hey. Look at me. I can give you all the time you need. Just give me something to hold on to until then."

She looked up at his eyes and couldn't help herself. She pulled him down kissed him hard. They stood there for several seconds unaware of people walking past and glaring at them. When she let go him she found herself smiling.

"You're such a lovable jerk," she said.

He shrugged. "It's my charm."

She bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Hey, our computer is on the fritz again. Mind coming by later and taking a look at it?"

"Sure. Is it just the computer I'm servicing?"

She smacked his shoulder. "Don't make me hurt you. Just be by at nine. We should be back from the studio by then."

"Yes ma'am!"

She kissed him again and then walked back to the gym.

The woman across the street hung up her cell phone and watched Kael walk away. Her boyfriend raised his fist with excitement before walking off in the other direction. They looked back at each other.

"It's so sweet I think I'm going to vomit," the woman said to the air.

The air wavered and another woman who could have easily been her twin appeared beside her. The only difference was her suit and sunglasses, which were a deep shade of blue. "Oh, come now," she said, "You have to appreciate the drama of it. The beautiful tragedy."

"The only thing I can appreciate is clubbing her damned skull open."

"Not yet. She's not even realized what's happening to her. But it's only a matter of time." She raised an eyebrow at her white-clad twin. "I thought you were supposed to be the patient one? What has you so anxious about this one more than any other we've destroyed?"

She snorted. "You're crazy. She's nothing to me but another dead Anathema."

When Kael made it back to the gym her sifu was waiting for her. The crusty old Chinese man kept his white hair short and wore a black gi even on the hottest summer days. She wasn't sure he ever even took it off yet he seemed to remain clean and well groomed at all times. He sat in the lotus position at the back of the room with his eyes closed.

She sat on her knees in front of him and bowed her head. "Good afternoon, sifu."

He opened one eye. "You should bathe," he said. "I could smell you before you even entered. You have that boy's scent on you."

She blushed. "I'll take care of that before I leave." She bit her lip. "Sifu?"

He grunted. "Yes?"

"Nothing. I'll go change now." She stood up and started heading for the locker room.

He opened his eyes. "Kael." She stopped and looked back at him. "I disapprove of coddling my students. But I am forced to accede that you are by far one of my best. You have always had a natural gift and fight like you were born to it. A warrior's spirit burns inside of you. But I sense there is something troubling you."

She nodded. "Have you… is it possible to get so wrapped up in a fight, even just an innocent sparring match, that you can believe you're somewhere else? Or maybe someone else?"

He frowned. "Is this about your family?"

"No!" She sighed. "I don't know. Maybe."

"If not about it, then because of it." He stood. "You have gone through a great deal in a very short time. You refused to take any time off."

"I couldn't afford to. We need the money. We had to move out of our house into that cramped little flat just so we could bury our parents." She shook her head. "I have to take care of Ince, too. She's my responsibility now."

"No one asked you to take that responsibility on yourself," a voice said, but it was not the sifu's.

She looked up. She was standing in a great chamber. Or it had once been great. Centuries of neglect and weathering had turned it into little more than an empty tomb. Tattered banners bearing sunburst symbols hung from the walls. A golden statue of a four-armed man stood before her in a dais bathed in the golden light that poured down through the open ceiling.

She turned to face a man dressed in dark blue clothing. A long, golden sword was at his side. His face was partially concealed by a hood, but something about him struck her as intimately familiar.

She frowned. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"Forgive yourself," he said. "Forgive them. It wasn't your duty to protect them."

"Then who's was it, Al? What good am I if I can't defend my own people?" She held up her sword and shook it at him. "What good is this? The power we were given can't even save one child's life. Has nothing we've done mattered? Is it all meant to end no matter how hard we fight?"

He shook his head. "You know that's not true. You had not yet been Chosen."

"And still all I can do is kill. I can't save lives by killing them. Sending my people into battle after battle isn't going to redeem me."

"No one has damned you! Don't you get that?" He shouted at her. "Damn it, Kael. Stop trying to be such a martyr! You're stronger than this." He walked up to her and pressed his palm to her face. He caressed her cheek. "I know you are."

She took his hand in hers and held it. Just touching him comforted her heart. "Al, I…"

They looked up as the sound of a war horn came from outside. They rushed to the window and looked out beyond the wall of the city below them and across the snow-covered tundra. Emerging from the white horizon they saw an army approaching carrying red banners bearing a great star emblem.

"Ragara Tatyana," he said. "She's finally come. With the army she'd promised in Whitewall." He looked to her. "Kael?"

A fiery vengeance burned in her heart. "She's the one who killed my family and scattered my people, Al. And now she's here to destroy everything we're trying to build."

"Then let's go and settle it. Once and for all."

She looked down at the sword in her hand. The Mare of the North, they called her. Already the battle cry was going up around the city and they were raising the unicorn standard that had been made for her.

She lifted her sword over her head and leapt from the window.

"Kael?" She jumped as her sifu touched her shoulder. He frowned and tilted his head. "Kael, are you all right?"

It happened again. She gripped the doorframe and the world seemed to spin around her. What the hell was going on? Was it really happening or was she just going insane? Who the hell was this other person sharing her head?

"Kael!"

She heard her sifu's voice but couldn't see him. The world lurched and her vision went black. Nothingness followed.

In the darkness she saw a light beckoning to her. It flickered dimly at first, but after a time began to gradually grow brighter and brighter. She drew closer to it and realized that it was not one flickering light, but five, each of them a different color. They pulled her ever closer until they became blinding and forced her to shield her eyes.

Then the lights dimmed, and she lowered her hand to see five women standing before her. They were each beautiful and frightening. Each one of them wore clothing of a single color. They looked up as though noticing her presence for the first time.

The one in red brandished a sword at her. "What is this intrusion?"

The woman in blue put her hand on the sword and lowered it. "Peace, sister. There is no need for such hostility."

"Then who is she?"

"She is from the mortal realm," said the one in yellow. She looked to her sister dressed in green. "Did you summon her here?"

She shook her head and tapped a ruler anxiously against the nothing. "Not I."

"It was I," said the last sister, dressed in violet and stringing a line between her delicate fingers. The others looked to her. "I called her to our us."

The one in red growled. "For what purpose? She is not one of our Chosen."

"Nor is she meant to be," replied her sister, who looked to the one in green. "But she will be Chosen by one of the others, won't she?"

She frowned and looked down. "Yes."

The other three looked at her with new interest. She suddenly realized what a bug under a magnifying glass felt like. She tried to back away but could not. "I don't understand. What's going on?"

"I have seen the span of your life, Kael," the violet woman answered. "And you are destined to do great things. It will be up to you to decide whether they are righteous or terrible, but they will be great."

"What? Is this a dream? Or am I dead?"

She laughed. "Not yet." She smiled and held the string out to her. "Take it."

She stared at it and suddenly the strand seemed infinitely larger than it had before. Staring into its depths she could see the whole of her life playing before her in flashes. She reached out and the woman gave it to her.

"I put your fate in your hands, Kael." She touched a finger to her forehead. "You will be Chosen."

"Kael? Kael, wake up, girl! Wake up!" She opened her eyes to see her sifu and several students standing over her. He sighed with relief. "Thank god. Everyone give her some room." He pushed the students back.

She sat up and her head rang. She lurched to try and keep up with the world spinning around her.

Her sifu put a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, child. Just take a breath."

She slowly stood to her feet. "I'm all right. I'm fine." She looked around. "What happened?"

"You passed out," he said. "You stopped talking to me and then dove right into the floor. They were worried you had cracked your skull. I know your head is too hard for that."

The students chuckled and she blushed. She realized something was in her grip. She looked down and saw a red piece of string.

"Sifu? I think I need to take some time off."

After school Ince sat on a bench with her friend Anna while she waited for Kael. Anna was her closest friend out of the others—they'd known each other since they were playing a sandbox.

"Maybe its just stress," she said. "I mean come on, how many thirteen year olds do you know have a recording contract? You're just letting your nerves about this album work you up, that's all."

"I suppose so." She leaned back. "Am I a nervous person?"

"Well, no, but you've never gone through anything like this before either." She turned her head. "Oh my god, get a load of the perverts!"

"Where?" She lifted her head and followed Anna's pointing finger. Across the street was a pair of men watching the school. One wore a red suit and had spiked orange hair and the other wore a black suit and long black hair. "You think they're perverts?"

"Why else would they be staring at the school? What do you think we should do? Tell someone?"

"We don't know they're perverts, Anna. Maybe they're just…" She faltered under her friend's cynical expression. "Okay, we need to find someone."

"Hello, Ince." Miss Lee's unexpected voice made both girls jump. She stood behind them and leaned over the back of the bench. "I hope you're feeling better?"

"Um, yes, thank you." She felt a shiver as the teacher scrutinized her. Why was she staring?

Anna spoke up, "Miss Lee! Those guys over there! We think they're perverts."

"Hmm?" She looked up and spotted the men across the street. She frowned. "No. No, they're not perverts, Anna."

"But they're just staring at the school. What if they're looking for someone to kidnap? Or worse?"

She stood straight. "Then perhaps I should go have a talk with them." She headed towards the pair of men and stopped just a few yards from them.

Ince and Anna watched her but couldn't hear what was being said, though they were sure that Miss Lee was talking to the two men. Suddenly she said something that made the pair of men turn pale. They quickly turned and started to walk away. She watched them until they turned the corner at the end of the block.

Ince shook off a chill. "Did Miss Lee just turn into the scariest person alive or am I hallucinating again?"

"I think you're right this time." When Miss Lee walked back over she asked, "What did you say to them?"

She smiled. "I simply told them that it would be unwise for them to continue standing there."

"…And?"

"I told them why." She looked at Ince and the young girl flinched. "Ince, I wanted to talk to you about what happened in class today."

"Ince!" Kael called her name and they looked up. She stood across the street. "Come on! We're going to be late!"

"Coming! Sorry Miss Lee, but I have to go now. See ya later, Anna." She grabbed her bag and bolted across the street.

Anna waved to her. "Call me later!"

"Will do!" She grabbed Kael's hand when she reached her. "Hey, you're early."

"Left class early. Who's the woman?"

"Oh that's just my teacher, Miss Lee. Let's go!" She pulled her along. "Come on, Kael!"

Felicia Lee watched the two girls walk away and then looked back to the spot where the men had been standing. A chill wind blew through her hair and she frowned deeply. She pushed her glasses up her nose and turned away from the school and started walking.

Anna watched her turn away, and she could have almost sworn that she spotted a glimmering gold ring on her teacher's forehead.

The small studio was more than they could afford. Kael counted the minutes and the amount of money they were going to owe the record company while she put on a smile for Ince. The girl looked so tiny inside the sound booth but when she started to sing she'd never seen her so happy.

"She really is amazing," Mr. Harrison said.

"Oh. Yes, she is. Thank you." She nodded.

The older man smiled and watched Ince as she sang. Her voice came through the speakers clearer than seemed possible. She'd always been as jealous of her talent as Ince had been of her strength. The paltry comparison to heavenly hosts didn't do her gift justice. To Kael it was as though something true and pure inside her sister had found a voice. People could hear her the way she was meant to be heard.

Mr. Harrison nodded his head along to the pop tune that they'd written for her. He was a strikingly handsome man somewhere in his mid-thirties from Kael's estimation, but his dark hair was already showing signs of gray. He kept his almond-colored eyes hidden behind dark glasses and wore expensive looking suits that tempted Kael to reach out and touch them just to know what they felt like against her skin. He was American, slightly brash, but when he talked people found it difficult to argue with him. She'd heard him flawlessly speak at least four different languages in a meeting with the label executives and was fairly certain he knew several more.

He'd heard Ince sing at the radio station event and immediately approached them with his card. The weeks between now and then had been a whirlwind of meetings and scheduling, which he'd taken most of the workload for upon himself.

Kael wasn't so naïve to believe that he was doing all this out of the kindness of his heart, but at least it had taken some of the pressure off of her to look after her sister's interests. Ince didn't seem to mind, though. She was just happy to sing her heart out.

When the session was over they sat down in the studio's break room with Mr. Harrison and the sound engineer. They talked for several minutes while Kael and Ince sat there feeling bored until Harrison turned his attention back to them.

"Ince, I just want to tell you that those were some great, great tracks we laid down tonight."

"Thanks!"

"You have a great talent, excellent. But we need to keep moving fast on this thing. The label is already making calls to promoters and we need to get you a tour manager. We want to have you on the road in the next six months. You'll need to learn these new songs we've had written up for you." He handed her a thick manila folder. "Of course you only have to pick the ones you like."

"Six months?" Kael frowned. "Mr. Harrison, don't you think…?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I get paid to do, Kael, is think. I'm thinking about your sister's future. I'm on your side here. Believe me, I understand how you feel. I have two kids of my own. The kind of pressure we're under here is enormous for a girl Ince's age. But I assure you that you'll have complete parental control as her guardian and no matter what happens I will be looking out for her interests."

Kael sighed. She was completely unable to come up with anything convincing to counter such a mouthful. If there was one thing Harrison was good for, it was talking.

Ince tugged on her sleeve. "Come on, Kael. I can handle this."

She nodded. "All right. I'll trust you, Mr. Harrison, with my sister's future."

He smiled. "Call me Monty. Don't worry, Kael. From here on in everything for you and Ince is going to be perfect." He cleared his throat. "Of course when you sign your tour agreement you do realize that you'll be gone for several months."

She frowned. "How long is 'several months'?"

"Six months here in Europe, and maybe another three to five in America and Canada. But we can discuss all that later. Have either of you eaten yet?"

Ince's stomach rumbled at the mention of food and she blushed. Kael shook her head. "I'm afraid we didn't have time."

"Tell you what then I know a great place we can go. It'll be my treat." He stood up. "I just have to grab a few more things and we'll go." He left the room with the sound engineer.

Kael leaned forward in her seat and buried her hands in her face. "Oh my god. A year."

"It'll be fun!" Ince bounced in her seat. "I've always wanted to get out and see the world. We've never even been outside the country. Just think about it. A whole stadium packed with thousands of people, all of them screaming and shouting and chanting my name, all of them there just to hear my voice." She leaned back and smiled.

"The ultimate teenage girl's dream," she said glumly.

She frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm. It's nothing." She sat up. "Harrison will be back in a minute."

She tilted her head and stared up at her big sister. "Hey, Kael? Can I ask you something?"

She looked puzzled and sat back down. "Sure. What's up?"

"Since mom and dad… you know. Have you ever had any dreams that seemed like they were real?"

She felt a creeping sensation run up her spine and her hand slipped into her pocket. She unconsciously fingered the red strand stuffed in there. "What do you mean?"

"I mean something that felt so real you were sure it had to be more than a dream. Like… imagining you're in another time and another place, but the person you're supposed to be is sort of like you and… not?" She stared at her. "Kael?"

"Um…" She tried to answer but the afternoon's episode replayed in her head.

"You have, haven't you?" She hopped to her feet and stared into her face. "You know what I'm talking about, right? It's got to be more than just the stuff about mom and dad, doesn't it? Kael? Say something."

"Okay!" Harrison walked back into the room at that moment and both girls jumped. "We ready to go?"

Ince cleared her throat and put on a smile. "Sure! Come on, Kael!" She grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet.

Kael followed them out the side entrance to the alleyway where Harrison had kept his car parked.

"It's a bitch trying to find decent parking in this city," he said as he pulled out the keys and hit the alarm button. He frowned. "That's strange."

Ince asked, "What's wrong?"

"The alarm's already disengaged." He slowly approached the car and peered in through the window. "What the—? The door's unlocked."

A feeling of dread gripped Kael's spine and she grabbed Ince's shoulder and pulled her back. "Ince, get behind me."

"Kael! What's going on?" She turned and saw a woman in white and the man in red from earlier that day standing at the mouth of the alley. "Kael!"

She put herself between Ince and the strangers. "Who are you? What do you want?"

Harrison took a step forward. "Wait a second here. Kael, calm down, we don't know—."

A woman in blue appeared before him with a gust of wind and put a finger to his forehead. She smiled at him and whispered, "Sleep." He fell back against his car and sank to the ground.

"Mr. Harrison!" Ince looked at her sister. "Kael?"

She looked around for something that might be used as a weapon. Anything. She spotted a discarded pipe sticking out of a pile of garbage. She picked it up and brandished it towards the strangers.

She shouted, "Stay back!"

The woman in blue joined her companions and smiled. "She hasn't changed yet. What do you think we should do with her in the meantime?"

The woman in white looked up. "How long?"

Kael and Ince looked up to see the man in black standing on the roof of the studio. He held a flashing device in his palm. "Incoming in three minutes."

"That's long enough," she decided. He tilted her head to the man in red. "Take her."

He grinned and a blade of pure flame appeared in his hand. He darted forward so quickly that Kael barely had time to raise her weapon before it clashed with burning blade. The force of the blow made her stagger back.

Ince screamed and rushed back to take cover behind a trashcan. She ducked down and peered around the corner. "Kael!"

"Stay back, Ince!" She grunted and tried to deflect his next blow. Burning embers sparked between them and she flinched as they seared through her jacket. "Dammit! You bastard! Stay away!" She swung and struck the man's arm. What echoed was the sound of metal striking metal.

He grinned and feinted his strike at her face. She knocked the tip of the fire away. How was this possible? It couldn't be. No one could do that, no one human.

His arm shot out and grabbed her throat. He lifted her off her feet and in a smooth motion threw her against the car. She slammed into it hard and fell to the ground.

Ince shouted, "Kael!"

"Enough playing around," the woman in white said. "Get the other girl, quick, before she Exalts."

The man in red grinned and approached Ince. He waved the burning blade menacingly towards her. "Come here little girl," he beckoned. "Come out and play. I promise I won't be too rough."

The man in black frowned at the device in his hands and tapped it. "Wait a second. Something's wrong."

Red kicked the trashcan aside and Ince shrieked and crawled backward on her hands and feet. "S-stay back! I'm warning you! Get away!"

He laughed. "Oh, that's good. I love it when they beg."

"Kael! Kael, wake up! Help!"

Blue looked up at Black and frowned. "What do you mean?"

He shook his head. "It's… Shit! It's tracking the wrong one!"

White sneered. "What?"

"Incoming!" The device in his hand shattered.

Ince screamed. "Kael!"

Kael opened her eyes. Her head felt like a lead balloon. "Whu? Ince?" Everything was blurry. She could barely make out the image of her sister and the fire-man standing over her with his weapon raised over his head. "No." She reached out. Her arms were too heavy. She felt so weak. "No! Stay away from her! Stop it!" She could hear him laughing at her sister's screams for help. "Stop!"

Suddenly her vision was filled with a blinding golden light. She felt her strength returning. No, it was more than that. She felt stronger than she ever had. In an instant the world around her changed and flashed. Her mind was filled with images of a life before this one, of an age before this time. She saw battles and hardships, wonders and terrors undreamed.

A great, beautiful man stood before her. His skin shined like the sun. He reached out one of four arms to her and placed his palm against her forehead. "Rise, my Chosen. Go forth and make this world a righteous place as best you know how."

Then the light was gone, but the strength remained. She understood something about herself she could never explain before. She reached out and with a force of pure desire and will a gleaming golden sword appeared in her hand. She rose to her feet and moved faster than she ever had before.

Red brought his blade down and there was a flash of golden light and the ring of steel. He backed away and when the light cleared Kael stood before him with a great blade in her hands. A golden sunburst blazed on her forehead.

Ince looked up in awe at her sister. "Kael?" Her mouth gaped. She seemed renewed, stronger and more awesome than anyone could possibly be.

She sneered at Red. "Get away from my sister."

White screamed. "Anathema! Kill her!"

Red growled and whirled his sword. "Die, Forsaken!" He brought it up in an arc over his head.

Kael knocked his blade away and spun her body around. Her leg came up and slammed into his head and knocked him off his feet. His glasses shattered as he fell to the pavement and laid still.

"Shit!" Black scrambled for his gun. He pulled it from out of his jacket and fired at the girls.

Kael's weapon moved almost of its own accord. A golden shimmer wreathed her arm as she spun the blade up and the bullets ricocheted off. She looked up and frowned.

"Coward!" She swung her blade and an arc of light flew from its edge. The arc sliced through the air and cracked into the masonry beneath Black's feet. The chunk of roof crumbled and he lost his balance and started to topple towards the ground. He followed the rubble as it crashed onto the fire escape.

White spat. "That's enough of this." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a slim, white rod. With a swing of her arm the rod expanded into a huge studded club. She screamed and charged Kael.

She shouted and met the woman's charge. They swung their weapons and light sparked as they met. They growled and struggled to push each other off balance.

Ince watched speechlessly. "It's just like my dream." Kael and the woman in white were moving inhumanly fast. They spun around and clashed their weapons together. Neither woman would give an inch of ground or dare to show weakness. As they fought a golden halo began to wreath Kael, and the woman in white became surrounded by a swirling field of stone shards.

White swung her club with a scream of anger and it sailed wildly over Kael's head. She ducked low and thrust her sword forward. It sliced across White's middle but instead of an expectant spray of blood her torn clothing revealed a gleaming shirt of white chain links.

She sneered at her. "Bitch!" Her club came back around and Kael dropped down and swung her leg out. She kicked White's feet out from beneath her and she fell back as her great weapon dragged her down.

Blue frowned and she became surrounded in a halo of swirling storm clouds and crackling lightning. "I don't think we can have any of this."

Ince frowned and stared at the strange woman. She put her hands together and elemental power swirling between her palms. Her eyes light up behind her glasses and she mumbled sacred words that shook the air.

Ince cried, "Kael, look out!"

She didn't hear her sister. She raised her blade over her opponent's head and looked into her face. White wore an expression of pure hatred. Something seized Kael's heart in that moment. She knew this woman. Somehow, from some time, they'd met and fought.

Blue shouted and the energy in her hands burst. Kael readied her blade to strike when suddenly vines crept out from beneath her clothing and wrapped around her arms and throat. She gasped and pulled at them but they were stronger and thicker than any natural plants. Her sword slipped from her grip and clattered to the ground.

"Kael! No!" Ince started to stand and felt a tickle behind her ear. She reached back and a vine wrapped around her hand and held her arm in place. She screamed as more crawled from beneath her clothing and began to bind her.

Both girls fell to the ground as their leafy bonds formed and wrapped their limbs and torsos. White scrambled back from Kael. She stood and looked to Red and Black. "Report!"

Red groaned and started to stand. He rubbed his face. "Ow. What hit me?"

She sighed and looked up at Black. "Are you alive?"

He coughed and sat up. "More or less." He wiped some blood from his forehead.

White looked back at her blue-dressed twin. Blue smiled and bowed her head. "No need to thank me."

She snorted and picked up her weapon. She hefted it onto her shoulder and smirked as she looked down at Kael. "Well, it looks like this is going to have a happy ending after all." Kael growled up at her in defiance. She shrugged. "Nice choice of last words." She lifted her club over her head.

"Hold!" Blue shouted and held out her hand. She cupped her other hand over her ear and tilted her head. The wind around her whispered gently and fluttered the tips of her hair. "We have new orders. Bring them."

She whirled around and shouted with rage. "What?"

Her twin frowned. "Those are our orders, sir. We're to bring them in alive."

She lowered her weapon and kneeled beside Kael. "Well it looks like it's your lucky day, bitch." She raised her fist and the last thing Kael heard was a crack, and then all was darkness.

End Part One


End file.
